Mrs Hawthorne and the Victor
by Pyralspite
Summary: She was once one of most beautiful girls the Seam had ever produced A deeper view into the life and times of Mrs. Hawthorne


**A/N**: Hi there Hunger Games fandom. Long time no see. Sorry its been so long since I published a fic (nearly two years I am trash).

A while back I read a Hunger Games fic where, in a quite hilarious scenario, they stated that Haymitch used to bully Hazelle when they were younger, and that she never quite let it go, resulting in her being hard and critical of Haymitch for every little mistake he made.

The way they wrote it stuck with me and made me laugh. It also inspired me to write a fic of my own, tracking Hazelle as she progressed through her life. Regarding background characters in the series, I personally didn't care much for Mrs. Everdeen, but Mrs. Hawthorne has always intrigued me ever since I read the entire series the first time around. I've always been intrigued by the way she managed to stay such a strong willed character, even after losing her husband to the mines and having to raise four children on her own, working herself to the bone.

So I chose to write her backstory. I hope I do her justice.

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><p>Year 6<p>

Haymitch Abernathy was never a kind man.

Hazelle Hawthorne had established this fact from an early age, when she first met him in primary school. She was still Hazelle Arborwood back then, a bright eyed little seam girl with short cropped hair and a smattering of freckles across her round face which harbored none of the exhaustion or pain that tainted her later years. She had a mommy who loved her and a daddy who saw her as the center of his world and always dredged up a smile for her, even on the days when his eyes drooped from exhaustion or his back refused to straighten from the long hours he spent at the mines.

Haymitch Abernathy was one of the few Seam kids back then who possessed toys that weren't beaten down or passed on from previous generations. Toys were rare in the Seam, and even though Haymitch's cars were chipped away, missing wheels, and covered in coal dust, they were still more than most Seam kids had.

He sat with his friends, two other skinny Seam kids and one blonde merchant boy, laughing and rolling the toys through the dirt. Hazelle was surprised that a merchant boy was playing with them. Most merchant kids were taught from a very young age not to associate with 'Seam brats' and that those who lived in the Seam were below the care of those who lived in town. There were only a few nice ones, but even those kids turned uncomfortable and flighty whenever any adults were nearby.

Upon closer inspection she discovered that the blonde boy was the baker's son, and smiled. Barm Mellark was one of the nicer town kids. He always had a soft smile on his face and never treated Seam kids as anything less than how he treated his town friends.

Of course, Hazelle was a little biased. He had gotten on her good side a while back, when he snuck her a cookie when her dad visited the bakery to buy some bread. The young boy with blonde curls had seen her gazing longingly at the sugar cookies, and he didn't have it in his kind heart to deny this little girl the one thing she wanted the most at that moment.

"Can I play too?"

The three boys stopped playing and stared at her. Barm looked at his companions, confused, while Haymitch's face adopted a sneer and his other seam friend, Oliver Everdeen, simply frowned.

"No girls allowed," Haymitch said matter of factly. He stood up and crossed his arms, glaring her down.

"Why not?" Hazelle asked, crossing her own small arms. Even though she was two years younger than Haymitch and almost a head shorter, she was as tough and strong willed as someone more than twice her size.

"Because girls are gross and you might steal my toys,"

"I'm not gonna steal your toys, I just wanna play,"

"Maybe we can let her play for a little bit?" Oliver pipes up, looking over at Haymitch questioningly. The other boy groans, relenting.

"Fine, but if she messes anything up she has to leave,"

Hazelle grins, kneeling in the dirt and picking up a small toy. It looked a little like a train car, and Hazelle dragged it along the grass, making little noises under her breath and imagining up little scenarios inside her head about where the train could be heading and why.

She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didnt notice what was in front of her until she crashed her train straight into Haymitch's hovercraft.

The little boy's eyes widened as one of the wheels fell off the train. Hazelle moved to pick it up, apologizing, when suddenly his arms shot out and she shoved her backwards hard into the dirt.

Hazelle landed on her bum so hard that she could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

"You broke it, you broke my toy! I knew you'd mess it up!" He yells, his face absolutely menacing for someone of his age and stature.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to!" she said getting back up. He shoved her back down onto the rough gravelly ground and she began to cry in earnest when she scraped her elbow, big fat tears rolling down her face and onto her worn green dress.

"It doesn't matter, you're a girl and girls always mess things up!"

Haymitch stormed off with his friends, leaving a crying Hazelle Arborwood in his wake.

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><p>That night as her daddy tucked her in, Hazelle's little mind began to wander.<p>

"Daddy, is it wrong to be a girl?" she asked as her father tucked her in, careful to avoid her now cleaned and bandaged little elbow.

"Of course not, why would you think that Wildflower?" he replied, using the nickname he gave her back when she was very young and used to knaw on the heads of the wildflowers that grew in the meadow.

"Haymitch said that girls always mess things up, and that they're bad and gross,"

"Well Haymitch is wrong," her father says, sitting on the bed and letting Hazelle cuddle up to him. "Think of it this way wildflower. You're mama's a girl right?"

Hazelle nodded quickly, her eyes wide.

"Do you think your Mama's gross?"

"No! Shes the best Mama in the whole Seam!"

"Exactly. Haymitch was just jealous that you had the best Mama in the whole Seam. Heck, wildflower, he was probably jealous of how much more people like you instead of him,"

"So girls arent icky and gross?"

"Nope,"

"You dont think I'm icky and gross, do you Papa?" She asks, her small face developing a worried expression. Her father surpressed a laugh.

"I don't know, you are pretty icky when you refuse to shower,"

"Papa!"

"I'm joking wildflower," He laughs, laying down next to her and letting her burrow her little face into his chest. Hazelle loved her father's laughs. She loved pressing her face into his chest when he laughed, feeling it vibrate through his chest alongside his heartbeat.

"You're the sweetest, lovliest little girl in the Seam, no matter what Haymitch Abernathy or any other little boy says."

"Thanks Papa," she said, letting out a tiny yawn. "Can you tell me a story?"

"What kind of story Wildflower?"

"Any kind of story."

"Long ago, before Panem ever existed, there lived twelve beautiful little princesses who would sneak out of their rooms as soon as evening set to dance the night away in a beautiful garden..."

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><p><strong>AN**: I forgot to say this earlier, but there will be no Hazelle/Haymitch in this fic. Haymitch will only be used as an anchoring point for her story, and his deterioration will be placed alongside hers to give you a better sense of the time frame. The years at the top also refer to Hazelle's age. Chapter one takes place when she's six years old, making Haymitch and Oliver eight and Barm six.

The story at the end that her father tells her is "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". I'd always loved this story as a little girl, and I'd always loved hearing about the beautiful princesses donning their pretty slippers, wearing them down by the nights end as they danced on in their beautiful garden escape. I don't know why, but I found the story fitting.

And yes, Barm Mellark is Peeta's father and Oliver Everdeen is Katniss's father. Barm is a type of yeast that helps malt liquor fement and is occasionally used in certain breads. I thought it was fitting, and I've seen it used as his name in other fics and I guess it just stuck with me that his name is Barm. Kind of like how its unanimously agreed within the fandom that somehow that the middle Mellark brother is named Rye.

Oliver Everdeen is named after the Olive tree. His name seemed better than the other tree names I found out there. I was originally going to name him Arbor but I decided to use that as part of Hazelle's maiden name.


End file.
